Gibson was branded the worst company to work for!

[webe123]

Gibson was branded the worst company to work for by it's own employees who not only rated the company, but the CEO of that company as well on Dec. 16, 2009 This posting is the 17th.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BF0N320091216

 

Listed as the worst place to work was Gibson Guitar, followed by United Airlines, Spherion, AutoZone and Rain Bird.

 

The poor QC complaints...the raid over illegally harvested imported woods....and now the opinions of the employees as well as Gibson being branded the worst company to work for......and their money troubles with their credit rating officially downgraded......DOES make a person wonder what is going on over at Gibson.

 

There are rumors of a buyout, but those have been going on forever, though this does not speak well for Henry....because MOST of the dissatisfaction by their employees is over HIM...not the company in general.

 

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Gibson-Guitar-Reviews-E6869.htm

 

It shows only 1.9 % are dissatisfied with the company itself....where most of the hate comes from is HENRY! At a whopping 88% DISAPPROVAL RATING BY GIBSON EMPLOYEES! WOW!

 

Company Rating Based on 57 ratings

Dissatisfied

1.9

 

CEO Approval Based on 42 ratings

Do you approve of the way this person is handling the job of leading this company?

10% Approve

88% Disapprove

[Guitarzan]

i find this interesting. could explain the ugly guitars they roll out like the Dusk Tiger.

it would appear there are few people at the top who actually have any vision for the product they make.

 

The main focus is money. as long as it is rolling in they could care less how long it will last, because they can always drop it on someone else once they totally screw it up.

hey it is 2009 and that is the way it is.

 

Fortunately there are some companies that care about their product and they usually have the company name as a surname.

you can spot them by the excitement they have for what they do. PRS, Godin, Taylor and many more.

 

Lately i really could care less about Gibson. there are some nice guitars but generally speaking there are some brands that are higher quality and more interesting to me.

[Guitarzan]

keep in mind i do work at a factory and i realize there are workers who tend to be useless and lazy and like to complain about their job when THEY are the problem. so i doubt this is 100% Henry.

 

[webe123]

Well I understand that, but there seems to be evidence that is growing daily that Gibson is having problems....how many no body knows, but they sure have made some blunders lately!

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

what makes me laugh about these types of ratings..... as they only work at Gibson, what is their reference?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to other guitar plants around the world, or just in the US?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to the working conditions at other jobs in Nashville, Memphis, or Montana that pay the same wage and benefits?

 

The grass is ALWAYS greener. Until you get there. Without some independent balance, its all just crap. I mean, we see multimillionare pop stars cry about how hard their lives are on TV every day.... they should try it from our perspective!

[picker]

Then again, with all the nutjob stuff Henry Juskiewicz has been doing to "return Gibson to it's "pre-eminent status among guitar companies", I can easily see him being the kind of boss who works his people into the ground with little or no concern for their welfare, and thinks they should be happy to bust their hump unrelentingly just because they work for the Exalted GIBSON!

[PBBPaul]

I think that the attitude of the employees has been indicated in the quality of their instruments for several years now. With competition being what it is, they are really trading only on their name now. I'm not sure how long banking on past glory can last.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

...I can easily see him being the kind of boss who works his people into the ground with little or no concern for their welfare, ....

 

...or be the kindly employer, watching over his 'children' as he ruthlessly pursues matters of business, to try to return Gibson to its former glory. who knows? We can 'see' anything that we choose to 'see' from our positions here on the mount where we really can't see a thing, but we can imagine just about anything.

 

We all know how Henry acts, and we often wonder what he is thinking in what companies he buys and what he does with them after he buys them. But we have no evidence that any of this transfers in any way to how he treats his employees. And he has saved Gibson, so far anyway, and brought back a lot of muscle to the brand. I certainly like what he has done better than what Fender has done, which is to have moved most of the jobs to other countries, helping to make us even more of a debtor nation. If we really think that the quality of the work is bad, then there are other issues to address. But I've got two higher end Gibsons made in the last 7 years or so, and both are very well made.

[myles_rose]

Well ... perhaps these are some of the reasons that Gibson has fallen on hard times along with the economy and some of their management choices on new ideas.

 

Then again, I am not sure of how many are aware of what is going on in regard to Peavey purchasing Gibson which could change things dramatically.

[picker]

Then again, I am not sure of how many are aware of what is going on in regard to Peavey purchasing Gibson which could change things dramatically.

 

Peavey is buying Gibson? Will wonders never cease? I wonder if they'll get out of making Peavey-brand guitars?

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

If it works the same way that it did when Peavey bought Crest, it is not a good thing, other than it saves the brand.

[myles_rose]

Only time will show the end result if Gibson is sold to Peavey but you have to keep in mind that Peavey knows how to run a factory, they have good QA/QC, design expertise and Hartley Peavey is a very good business man.

 

[Eric Iverson]

Well, competition has always been tough, hasn't it? Has any company been granted a special dispensation saying that they will ALWAYS be on top?

 

If Gibson or Fender or any other company produces product of a lower quality and/or higher price for the same, it's only a matter of time before people catch on. Especially there are many companies nowadays that make a good guitar at a reasonable price.

 

Not that it will affect the prices for vintage Les Pauls and Strats......

[webe123]

Double post.

[webe123]

what makes me laugh about these types of ratings..... as they only work at Gibson, what is their reference?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to other guitar plants around the world, or just in the US?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to the working conditions at other jobs in Nashville, Memphis, or Montana that pay the same wage and benefits?

 

The grass is ALWAYS greener. Until you get there. Without some independent balance, its all just crap. I mean, we see multimillionare pop stars cry about how hard their lives are on TV every day.... they should try it from our perspective!

 

You apparently forget that it is not "Former disgruntled Gibson employees" that come to forums such as this one and complain about bad QC from Gibson. THOSE are ACTUAL Gibson CUSTOMERS Bill.

 

And the other things I pointed out were FACTS! Not supposition...They DID get raided on suspicion of importing illegal rosewood. They DID come out with some of the worst designs in the past few years. They DID ignore local dealers who were with them for years and decided to take another road with Guitar Center and Musicians Friend and give them and a handful of dealers exclusive rights to sell their products. (Forget the fact that it was the LOCAL DEALERS Bill, that made Gibson the company they are today) As well as act like a premadonna at trade shows.

 

And you want to act as though that all of this must be just "hogwash"? Amazing.

 

I am sorry, but I don't think that survey was all "made up" by "Disgruntled Gibson employees"!

 

And here is another question for ya Bill, most of those companies rated... were rated by ex-employees....yet some gave very favorable ratings to some companies they felt deserved the credit....I guess we should just ignore those too?

 

But you can go ahead and think what you want, I just think you are dead wrong and there is something going on over at Gibson...something not very good.

[Caevan O’Shite]

If Gibson or Fender or any other company produces product of a lower quality and/or higher price for the same, it's only a matter of time before people catch on. Especially there are many companies nowadays that make a good guitar at a reasonable price.

 

That already happened with both Gibson AND Fender in a big way (Norlin? CBS?)...

[webe123]

Yeah, but now it seems that Gibson is going and making some blunders like they did in the Norlin days. Maybe it can only be sorted out by new ownership?

 

As the old ownership is not getting the job done well, it seems.

[Bluesape]

Ahem! http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/reifspano/Apes/ape1.gif Not liking the tone I see evolving here. Keep it civil, peeps!

[skipclone 1]

what makes me laugh about these types of ratings..... as they only work at Gibson, what is their reference?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to other guitar plants around the world, or just in the US?

 

How do the working conditions at Gibson compare to the working conditions at other jobs in Nashville, Memphis, or Montana that pay the same wage and benefits?

 

The grass is ALWAYS greener. Until you get there. Without some independent balance, its all just crap. I mean, we see multimillionare pop stars cry about how hard their lives are on TV every day.... they should try it from our perspective!

 

Actually, we should try it from their perspective. Me first. The things I do for you guys...

[Larryz]

Haven't owned a Gibson for several decades now but I have always had respect for the guitar company and the products they have put out over the years...I hope the CEO will review the surveys and get the company back on track...I wouldn't want to see the company being bought out by Peavy...but if Peavy or anyone else could keep the name alive and bring back the quality expected by US consumers(and bring the prices back down to earth) it would be wonderful...Gibson is like Harley, an American icon worth saving...

[russclan]

Interesting thread here. My guess is that there's more to the employees dissatisfaction than just "their beloved Gibson" being scrutinized about possible shady/underhanded business dealings and such. For what it's worth:

 

In the mid 90's I was a setup tech for one of the larger guitar companies, who will remain nameless (suffice it to say that when a better job opportunity came around, I washed my hands of them, so as not to get burned anymore ). It was piece work, and we got 2.50 per guitar. Once I hit my stride, I averaged 6 an hour. A few of us were family guys whose livelihood depended upon speed and efficiency. We didn't cut corners, because we didn't get credit for the piece if it didn't pass inspection. After a month or so of decent paychecks, my supervisor called me and the other guys who were also doing well into his office. He told us " asked me why X number of his techs are making X dollars an hour, when all the rest are making much less...he thinks maybe something's going on back here. Just so you're all aware, I've been asked to keep an eye on you and your inspectors". We explained that "the rest" were all single guys living at home and could afford to set up a guitar and then spend 10-15 minutes practicing scales and crap before moving on to the next one.

 

It wasn't long before us "family guys" started seeing our inspectors more and more, due to "revamped" standards and all manner of stupid crap. Naturally, our numbers decreased along with our paychecks.

 

To say that we were disgruntled or dissatisfied would be an understatement. All the other departments in the company (I made it a point to speak to them) had more complaints than compliments as well.

 

Shortly before I left, I had a conversation with the warehouse GM. He'd been with the company for 15 years or so. He told me " basically thinks that everyone who works 'in the back' are peons. He actually told me once that he's not concerned with what they think because replacements are so easy to come by."

 

BTW, I forgot to mention...two of the techs I worked with were former Gibson employees. I remember them telling me that things weren't much better at Gibson...

 

Anyway, enough of my rambling, just felt compelled to add my 2 cents.

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Caevan O’Shite]

Hey, welcome to the GPF, russclan! Insightful, informative post there!

[skipclone 1]

Very interesting post indeed-as someone who is still wrestling with learning to set up their own guitars, I find that boss`s attitude

absurd and incomprehensible.

[myles_rose]

Very nice post.

[harvey]

hi russclan, great post...what a nuts way to run a business!

[Gabriel E.]

Interesting. The company I work for was listed in that article as well. This survey draw from a large sample of employees and gives a pretty accurate picture of how employees feel. It's not really that possible for a few disgruntled or lazy people to skew it that much.

 

Gibson is a VERY top-down organization. In this day and age, that doesn't always play well with the rank and file. Especially if they feel the leadership is making bad decisions - leads to a lot of frustration because there's nothing they can do on the ground level to change it.

 

Just based on their product offerings over the last 10 years or so, it seems like Gibson is pretty unfocused. Lots of weird designs that are only offered for a while (the "reverse v", that rainbow SG, the BFG Les Paul), high tech stuff that obviously consumed a lot of R&D resources but is not supported commercially (the digital Les Paul) or costs too much and is too much of a pain to use (the Robot Les Paul).

 

Let's not forget about the brands that Gibson bought and then killed (Garrison, Oberheim, Steinberger [eventually brought back from the dead in an altered form]).

 

Then there was the whole Gibson cafe thing.

 

Seems like they have no clear vision for a product line. Their core models change specs constantly and their pricing for the same models changes all the time as well.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

What I see that keeps getting mixed together here are peoples personal feelings about Gibson products and designs... which besides being personal, totally ignore the flagship products that still sell as fast as they can make them; ad the fact that employees are not always the best judge of how a company should do business. Believe me, I've seen many many situations where, had the front office paid attention to the employees the business would have been better and more profitable. But I've also seen the reverse. And I am a firm believer in organized labor and employee pride and responsibility.

 

Separating out the tile of the thread and addressing that alone, I ask why? I've been to the factory and the custom shop. I didn't see any whips. I didn't see any obviously unsafe production areas. The spaces are modern and airy. Seemed warm enough. Not too humid.

 

In my labor work I have been to many venues where the employees had unrealistic expectations about what a job should be. And there are very few production jobs anywhere in the world which provide any sort of an upgrade path for more than a handful of employees. You are a cog in a wheel. That is the job.

 

The article in question didn't dig into or explain why Gibson was a bad place to work. Just threw it out there, and walked away. (Why am I not surprised? Reporters don't dig for news stories anymore, they take statements at face value and quote each other.)

 

A lot of us question some of the decisions made by the head of Gibson. I put the good ones at the top... he keeps the production and the jobs int he USA. Thank you Henry, thank you very much.

 

In terms of the "Gibson Cafe"... when that project was started, it was when everyone was jumping on the 'cafe' bandwagon. Gibson abandoned it when the other various 'cafes' started to go belly-up. Of the two in Nashville, it is a shame that Milano (I think that was the name) closed as it was a beautiful room. But the nascar cafe and planet hollywood had both crashed and burned in Nashville, so closing the Gibson cafes was probably a wise move.

 

We have to separate how we feel about how they interact with US... and at times they do act like the 800 pound gorilla... from how they treat their employees. And we also have to figure out just what the employees are complaining about to see if those complaints have an validity before we continue to trash Gibson from a one line quote from a Reuters piece.

[Billster]

Separating out the tile of the thread and addressing that alone, I ask why? I've been to the factory and the custom shop. I didn't see any whips. I didn't see any obviously unsafe production areas. The spaces are modern and airy. Seemed warm enough. Not too humid.

 

That's slightly disingenuous, because outside of obvious physical harm, a workplace can be tainted by the attitudes of management and many other issues. A failed unionization effort ruined the place my wife worked for many years.

 

I agree that it's nice that they've made the effort to keep production in the USA, but it isn't so nice if the US employees are feeling like they could be packed off at any moment.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

 

I agree that it's nice that they've made the effort to keep production in the USA, but it isn't so nice if the US employees are feeling like they could be packed off at any moment.

 

Right now that is a prevalent feeling in most workplaces. My wife worked for one of the really big law firms, in their US headquarters. She was laid off along with many of the other high dollar long term employees who cost the company a lot of money in salary and benefits, and the ones that were replaced were replaced with entry level personnel. Everyone in the company is walking on eggshells, and employee morale and loyalty, which used to be very high, is in the crapper.

 

The bean counters who have used the 'bad economy' as an excuse to take advantage of employees and maximize profits have pretty much screwed the pooch, and now US productivity and quality are on a downhill slide as workers feel disenfranchised, and quality people are jumping ship all over the place... not an option for line workers who do factory work, who rightfully feel stuck. This is not unique to Gibson, far from it. It is a national plague.

 

 

[Gabriel E.]

And we also have to figure out just what the employees are complaining about to see if those complaints have an validity before we continue to trash Gibson from a one line quote from a Reuters piece.

 

It's not just a one line quote from a Reuters piece. It's a survey on Glassdoor.com that Reuters just reported. I read a bunch of the reviews and they don't seem like sour grapes to me.

 

FWIW I have nothing against Harry or Gibson. I don't particularly care for Gibsons but that's just personal preference that manifested itself way before I knew anything about the company. I am in management at a very large and fairly progressive corporation, however so I am interested in this stuff.